%0 Journal Article %T LINKING ˇ°HERITAGE LANGUAGEˇ± EDUCATION AND PLURILINGUAL REPERTOIRES DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCES FROM DRAWINGS OF PORTUGUESE PUPILS IN GERMANY %A SILVIA MELO PFEIFER %A ALEXANDRA SCHMIDT %J L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature %D 2012 %I IAIMTE %X This article discusses the outcomes of an investigation of social representations of Portuguese primary school pupils in Germany towards ˇ°their languagesˇ± (mainly Portuguese and German) within a theoretical framework based on the concept of ˇ°Heritage Languageˇ± and its role in the development of plurilingual competences.The results of the collected data (956 drawings from pupils in 7 German Federal States) point at the existence of: i) bounds between Heritage Language and the development of Plurilingual Competence; ii) stereotyped representations towards languages and cultures; and iii) the building up of a ˇ°linguistic cultureˇ±, since the pupils have already developed attitudes, knowledge and aptitude to deal with linguistic and cultural diversity. The study emphasizes the need to develop a more consistent multilingual awareness in order to optimize attitudes, knowledge and aptitudes evinced, namely in Heritage Language classroom. %K Heritage language %K Plurilingual Competence %K Social Representations %K Drawings %U http://l1.publication-archive.com/public?fn=enter&repository=1&article=1453